In the Modern World of IT, All Things Are Connected - Richard Gordon

And so to another year. In our forecast kick-off meeting for 2014, we discussed possible themes for our quarterly webinars during 2014 (the first is on 8 April). There was plenty to talk about. Without giving too much away, a few of the topics we’re likely to touch on at some point include context-aware computing, the Internet of Things, the future of IT sales, and digital business.
Each on its own is a rich seam of relevant, fascinating research. But, as we discussed them, it struck me how much they increasingly seem to be converging: how one topic would soon send us off along the path of another. So when we talk about digital business, we inevitably end up talking about Internet-connected “things”; likewise for context-aware computing and “wearables”; or how the digitalization of business is affecting the role of the sales channel.
My colleagues Peter Middleton, Peter Kjeldsen and Jim Tully highlighted in theirIoT forecast report that the growth in Internet of things will far exceed that of other connected devices. By 2020, the emergence of mass-market smartphones and tablets, combined with the mature PC market, will result in an installed base of about 7.3 billion units, which compares with the expected human population of 7.7 billion in that year  (this is based on information from the United Nations Population Division). In contrast, the Internet of things will have expanded at a much faster rate, resulting in an installed base of about 26 billion units at that time. Installed base is important here because it drives the value of service revenue, and it aggregates communications bandwidth and data center activity.

Source: “Forecast: The Internet of Things, Worldwide, 2013”, November 2013
There’s not much else to say at this point. Except – stay tuned. We can expect a lot of great stuff this year, and I for one can’t wait to see how things develop. As soon as the theme of the first webinar is decided, I’ll post it here. But in the meantime, keep that date – 8 April – free.

Fuente: http://blogs.gartner.com/richard-gordon/2014/02/24/in-the-modern-world-of-it-all-things-are-connected/